Rachel Don Bosco
Counter Assistant – Regent Pharmacy
I am currently taking a gap year and wish to study Pharmacy at University next year (okay so this is sounding too much like a personal statement, sorry it’s a habit). Let’s start again. Hi I’m Rachel and I’m a counter assistant at Regent Pharmacy.
So how did I end up here I here you ask. Well it all started on Thursday 14th August aka Results Day (dun dun daa) and as I opened my results my heart sank as I read the letters on the page. You guessed it, I hadn’t managed to get the grades to do pharmacy, and as I got home my mum enveloped me in a hug and told me that it wasn’t the end of the world and that there were different paths I could choose. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and mope, but luckily my older sister gave me the cold slap of reality (she maybe dopey but once she switches to mother mode you’re done for). So after a long lecture I was ready, clearing hotline here I come!
To cut a long story short over the next two days I was turned down by most universities, and although I joke about it now, it was tough. Being rejected over and over again had begun to take it’s toll and by that point I just wanted to go to Uni! I started to look at a variety of different courses (from optometry to dietetics to psychology) and I suddenly began to get offers. But this may have done more harm than good, as I started to freak out about how I was so quick to change my career path (and my future). So I stepped back and allowed myself to think. Why did I want to study pharmacy? Was it just because my sister was studying pharmacy? What did I see myself doing in 10 years time? Would I love my Job? Is this the career path for me? After researching like crazy and thinking for myself I came to this conclusion. Yes, I want to study pharmacy because a pharmacist is someone who is able to be the centre of the community by dispensing medication to individuals and offering them services to better their quality of life. But in turn a pharmacist can also be someone who knows how chemicals in medication can affect the body at a molecular level to correct a certain fault that is causing a patient discomfort.
My sister (a.k.a Chrissie) went through a similar situation as me and has been working at Regent Pharmacy for just over 2 years now. She told Sunil about my dilemma, and he offered me the one thing I needed the most which was time. Once I made my decision to take a gap year and re-sit a few of my exams, I told Sunil and he offered me a job!
So here I am nearly 2 months into the job, and yeah, I might be the slowest person ever employed to finish deliveries, but I’m finding my feet. The staff have been more than helpful with all my silly questions. I would like to say a big thank you to Sunil for giving me this opportunity and for being a wonderful manager (I feel like this deserves a Costa ;)). And of course my beautiful and talented sister (she made me write every word) for putting in more than a good word for me.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the choice I made, as I have already learnt so much. And there is definitely more to being a pharmacist than it looks. From what I have seen they encourage and help the community in more ways than I ever thought. From helping smokers quit, to helping people lose weight. Moreover, I love how people are encouraged to come to the pharmacy first for any medical related enquiries, where they are seen to immediately and there problems met.
So yeah, join me as I embark upon this journey and hopefully by the end of these blogs I will be a pharmacy student.
Rachel Don Bosco
